Wife: Man shot by Albuquerque police ‘went crazy’

Associated Press

Tuesday, May 6, 2014 | 10:22 a.m.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A man shot by Albuquerque police during a lengthy standoff suffered from depression and "just went crazy," his wife said Monday.

In an interview with KOAT-TV on Monday, Gail Martin said that for some reason her husband, Armand Martin, 50, demanded that she and their two children get out of the house on Saturday. He then pulled a gun outside the bedroom door, she said.

"The kids got so scared and started running and telling me to go," she said.

Gail Martin called 911, which brought out the Albuquerque SWAT team.

She told the station she expected her husband to cooperate with officers, and thought, at most, he'd go to jail

An Albuquerque officer shot Armand Martin in the chest after he came out of his home firing two handguns, police said. He died at the scene.

Albuquerque police are under tough scrutiny following a harsh report from the U.S. Justice Department over use of force and its interaction with suspects struggling with mental illness.

On Monday night, Albuquerque city councilors walked out of a meeting that spun out of control when dozens of people chanted demands for the police chief to be fired and the mayor to be recalled for their handling of the embattled Police Department. The council was scheduled to discuss whether the police chief's position should be one selected by the council or by voters.

Gail Martin said she met her husband 18 years ago in Oklahoma. They had been married for 14 years and had two children: a son, 14, and daughter, 15.

The family moved to Albuquerque in 2006.

Her husband was a good father and husband, and he had seemed fine earlier in the day, she said.

"He just went crazy and said, 'Get the (expletive) out of the house' and then he started bringing the gun outside the bedroom door and started clicking the trigger," she said.